President Bush lifts drilling ban

Its about time. I never understood the “you go first” approach… you lead by example.

“We need to take action now to expand domestic oil production,” Bush said. Asserting that “failure to act is unacceptable,” he said today’s move clears away executive branch restrictions on offshore oil exploration. “This means that the only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the U.S. Congress,” he said.

Of course the Democrats quickly opposed the move with some confusing logic…

“The president didn’t follow his father’s policy on Iraq, and now he’s not following his father’s policy on offshore oil drilling,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee. “Ironically, the result will be less pressure on the oil companies to produce on the leases they already hold.”

Which makes absolutely no sense. If the oil companies acquire more leases (more money spent) the pressure to produce revenue increases greatly. Oil companies are in business to produce oil… they aren’t in the real estate biz. Those leases need to produce, but drilling is part one.

Refining capacity must also be increased.

H.R. 2279 would address one of the largest hurdles to building a new refinery: finding land. It would direct the President to designate three closed military bases as suitable for the construction of an oil refinery.

Once identified, the bases could be set aside for two years so that oil companies could be invited to purchase the land from the government. Finding land can be a very difficult challenge for a group that wishes to build a new refinery.

By using a closed military base, we can provide an alternative to communities that will need something to fill the void left by departing servicemen, and we can address one of our nation’s most important energy infrastructure issues at the same time.

Via: Michelle Malkin